Sanctions on Russia Failed Because of Chinese Manufacturing

U.S. and European sanctions aimed to collapse the Russian economy. Alongside technocratic preparation and sanctions evasion, imports of advanced manufactured goods from China neutered this strategy.

Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) in 2023. Source.

Immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States imposed sweeping financial and economic sanctions on Russia, and was joined in doing so by the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the entire rest of the U.S.-aligned developed world. Practically overnight, this bloc, representing over a billion people and almost 60% of the global economy as measured by nominal GDP, cut Russia off in terms of basic financial systems, corporate business activity, and trade of advanced manufactured goods or critical materials.¹ The EU effectively banned oil and coal imports from Russia and declared its intent to transition off of Russian gas imports, with those falling by 71% from 2021 to 2023.² Airspace and travel were restricted, while well over a thousand high-ranking or wealthy Russians were personally sanctioned as well.³ Despite these comprehensive measures, the Russian economy has not collapsed in the two years since.